Thought for 8 November

John 14:25-27

Jesus said: ‘I am telling you these things now while I am still with you.  But when the Father sends the Counselor as my representative _ and by the Counselor I mean the Holy Spirit – he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I myself have told you. 

 I am leaving you with a gift – peace of mind and heart.  And the peace I give isn’t like the peace the world gives.  So don’t be troubled or afraid. 

This is the time of year for remembrance.  Memory can be a strange phenomenon.  If you’re anything like myself, I have fairly vivid memories of events in my life that happened many years ago and yet, I forget where I leave my keys on an almost daily basis.  I’ve found myself fairly frequently saying: ‘I’ll need to make a point of remembering something’ and sometimes I do and sometimes I don’t.  Failure to remember the things we really need to remember can really impact on those who depend upon us.  I’ve heard it said that some folks have ‘selective memories’, usually emanating from a women’s lips when describing her partner or husband.  Memory is an important element of our lives, and we should appreciate and value it.  

When I was preparing to sit my higher Geography exam a long time ago, I found a way of remembering the names of the great lakes in Canada by the letters ’SMEOH’.  I was at a quiz night a week ago when that question came up to name the five great lakes.  It was one point for each plus a bonus point if we could name all five.  Wel, the bonus point was in the bag due to something I had learned and remembered over fifty years ago.  Yet on the same day, I had forgotten to take the washing out of the machine and put it on the radiators.  I’ve came to the conclusion that sometimes our memories work and at others, they can fail quite miserably and I’m not quite sure why.

Many of us more advanced in years will have memories and stories related by parents who served in the second world war.  As a child, I can even remember meeting elderly relatives of my parents who served in the great war.  It makes the act of remembrance more real and more meaningful when we have experiences such as these to turn to.  The younger generations cannot turn to these personal recollections but the seriousness and the necessity for remembering the horrors of these two wars and all the servicemen lost in various conflicts since, is something that cannot be allowed to fade with time. 

We continually see changing patterns of behaviour in society.  Younger folk tend to think differently, do things differently and spend their time differently compared to what we did.  Their concepts as to how important something is, may be quite different to our own.  Despite this, we should all do everything within our power and influence to ensure our young folks respect and appreciate the necessity for acts of remembrance such as those taking place this weekend.

On Sunday, we will be observing a period of silence in memory of all those who have died or suffered as a result of war and there will be prayers for peace.  We will all be wearing our poppies to mark this occasion and will hopefully have contributed to one of the charities who care for ex-servicemen affected by their experiences of war.  It is a good thing we do, and our prayers should include a request that the same observance will still be happening a hundred and more years down the line.

In Wednesday’s thought this week, we learned that the inheritance promised to us as believers is better than anything that this world could ever offer, today’s reading teaches us in the words that came from the lips of Jesus himself, that the peace promised to believers is something much greater than any concept of peace in this life.  Let us join in with the prayers for peace in our world this weekend but also remember and be thankful for the promise of peace of mind and heart in this life and peace beyond our understanding in the next and let us hold to our faith in the Lord with confidence.

Prayer

Loving Father, how wonderful to know that we have the Holy Spirit of God living within us, teaching us the truth of your Word and guiding our steps. We thank you that our frail bodies have become temples in which he has come to reside forever. Open our understanding to the immeasurable riches of your grace towards us. We thank you that your grace is sufficient, your strength is made perfect in our weakness, your peace passes understanding, and your promises endure throughout all generations. Amen                      (with thanks to knowing-jesus.com)